French batter the All Blacks into submission at Toulouse

Press, 14 November 1977, Page 34

French batter the All Blacks into submission at Toulouse

From JOHN BROOKS, on tour with the All Blacks A battered, beleagured All Black team will have to draw on all its reserves of physical courage as well as its playing ability against the French in Paris next Saturday.

This was the lesson learnt painfully at the Municipal Stadium, Toulouse, at the week-end on the way to an 18-13 defeat at the hands of the Tricolours in the first of the two internationals. The All Blacks were kicked and gouged in the course of a match that must rate as one of the most physical contests in which a New Zealand side has participated. At the end of it, the New Zealanders had two men off the field, two others in exhtreme pain, and most of th rest with bruises or abra-

The bleak, long-range forecast for Paris is that the All Blacks will be without Brvan Williams and Bevan Wilson, and, probably, Frank Oliver. But, with luck, the bodies of Brad Johnstone and Lawrie Knight might be ready to withstand another onslaught.

The French XV will be unchanged. The absence of Williams and Wilson leaves only Brian McKechnie as a regular kicker in the side and his confidence will need restoration after missing two penalty attempts from most favourable positions which, if successful, would have given New Zealand an a'most unbeatable lead of 10 points at half-time. Four and a half years ago a mournful, moustachioed French fly-half, Jean Pierre Romeu, kicked his side to victory against the All | Blacks in Paris. In Toulouse he did it again, both at goal and towards touch. He scored 14 of France’s points with his boot and his incredibly big punts to the sideline blunted the edge of New Zealand’s attack.

Ironically, the match wasi played on Armistice Day — a public holiday in France to commemorate the end of World War I — but from the manner in which the Tricolours forwards approached their task it seemed that the struggle for possession of Akaroa was on again. “We know now what to

expect next time,” said one All Black forward. “We will go into the Paris test with our eyes open — literally,” said another. Most of the All Black forwards looked as if they had gone 15 rounds with the Mafia. All had bruises and Gary Knight’s left eye-lid was vertically split after he was gouged and thumped in a maul. John Black and Bruce Robertson were both

trampled on after trapping the loose ball and this exercise became roughly equivalent to volunteering for the Kamikaze corps as the match wore on. It was difficult to realise that this was just a game.

I The referee, Mr John IWest, of Ireland, came down heavily on off-side play and I later at the test match banIquet he drew Gerard Cholley 'aside and lectured him on gouging. By that stage it was a bit late for the New [Zealanders.

Knight’s use of vaseline saved him when Cholley groped for his eyes during the game but the New Zealander’s abortive touch at the French tight-head prop brought a penalty against his side. The New Zealanders I team’s manager, Mr Ron Don, would not comment directly when asked for his views on the style of play in the test. “All test matches are physically hard and very dent a n d i n g , ” he said. “Speaking of rugby generally, and not necessarily of yesterday’s test, there is no

place in rugby at all for such practices as gouging of the eyes and deliberately kicking players on the ground, particularly in rucks and mauls.

“In some of our games in France our players have been deliberately kicked. And in some of our games, the players have become frustrated when referees have not penalised players who are obviously and deliberately lying on the ball in rucks.” Asked whether the All Blacks had been instructed to turn the other cheek in the circumstances, he replied: “No, but our players are always instructed to play within the laws.” The All Black coach, Mr Jack Gleeson, said that he had no comment to make when asked about rough play. “I am not a squealer,” he said. But he did say that the French were stronger up front, and physically much harder than the 1977 Lions and this had been a big factor in nullifying New Zealand’s possession. “I think we have the smallest men playing international rugby — the French are very strong,” he said. “We 'wanted to move any ball we got, but this was a solid, physical contest without much movement of the ball. We had not previously seen forwards of the class of the test men on this tour.”

Mr Don paid tribute to the French forwards — “they played a tremendous game,” he said. He also commented that New Zealand had missed two “virtual sitters” with McKechnies’s unsuccessful penalty shots but added “that is rugby, the ifs don’t count: the result is in the book. The French will sing tonight — but so will we.” Mr Gleeson said that in a test, a side had to take its chances and this represented the difference between winning and losing. Asked whether there were any lessons to be learnt from the test defeat, he said that New Zealand had learnt it must kick goals that were on. He recalled the occasion

when Bryan Williams missed a comparatively simple penalty kick in the second test against the Lions in Christchurch this year — “this had a demoralising effect on the other players.” McKechnie kicked a penalty goal from 20m in the first minute of the match and then failed from 25m and 18m, the last a particularly bad miss, with a sliced kick. Also, in the first half Williams missed three times from ranges of about 45m. Mr Gleeson pointed out that McKechnie was playing his initial first-class match at full-back “and in a country where they let you know when you’re taking your kicks at goal.” Piercing whistling accompanied New Zealand’s kicks at goal and in addition there were the letting off of fiere-

works, trumpet blasts, and the frequent chant of “allez bleu” (the French play in blue jerseys).

Mr Gleeson was critical of the use of only one ball in the game instead of three as in New Zealand. “I would like to know the amount of time lost in retrieving the ball,” he said. “We would have liked to keep the game moving.”

But the All Black coach said that the spirit and willingness of the All Blacks to succeed was still intact after defeat and that this was the big factor. The big French forwards, Michel Palmie, Jean-Francois Imbernon and Alain GuiL bert, upset New Zealand’s well-laid plan for line-out possession — a plan which had been polished in the team’s hotel car park on the morning of the match. And in the scrums, the All Blacks had a constant battle against the physically stronger pack and Alain Paco’s two tightheads were

both gained after New Ze: land had hooked the ball an had been pushed off it. The All Blacks gained . lead in second-phase posses sion but it was not substan tial enough to influence de velopments. The New Zea landers sent the ball through the chain whenever the op portunity presented itself but the French, after early problems through Graeme Mourie’s marauding, changed their tactics. Romeu stood deeper and booted huge touch-finders whenever he was served with the ball. Mr Gleeson said that it would have served New Zea land better had the French backs been allowed to run and been tackled for the loose ball to be created. In the first half the French did not play with much application but later the forwards peeled off the line-out and played with the verve for which they are noted. Constantly urging them to greater efforts was their captain and half-back, Jacques Fouroux. He made a few errors of commission in play and at times attempted to tell the referee his job, but his direction of the French side was exemplary. Jean-Claude Skrela was an effective loose forward for France and ever present in the tight was Robert Paparemborde. Romeu played a most serviceable game and as well as kicking five goals he placed a towering punt from which France scored its sole try. His angled kicking for touch recalled Barry John’s efforts for the Lions at Carisbrook in 1971. His opposite number, Doug Bruce, did well in difficult circumstances for New Zealand and his clearing under pressure was reliable. Mark ■ Donaldson had a good first test at half-back in spite of I an unpredictable service . from the forwards. Stuart Wilson made the most of his chances and was sound on defence. Gary Seear and John Black had ' good test debuts and Mourie roamed effectively but found the French had anticipated his presence by adopting a deep back formation. New Zealand will present a different type of game in 1 Paris—“but I would not tell the French what it is,” said Mr Gleeson. For France, a try by Paparemborde and a dropped goal, conversion, and three penalty goals by Romeu. For New Zealand, a try by Williams, a dropped goal by Bruce Robertson, and penalty goals by Williams and McKechnie.